B. Remembered Death—Rosemary dead [
C. Dangerous drug stolen from doctor’s car. [See
D. Legless man—sometimes tall—sometimes short
E. Identical twins (one killed in railway smash)
F. Not identical twins
G. A murderer is executed—afterwards is found to be innocent [
H. Dentist Murder Motive? Chart substitution? Combine with E? or F? or J?
I. Two women—arty friends—ridiculous—one is crook
J. Chambermaid in hotel accomplice of man
K. Stamps—but stamps on letter [‘Strange Jest’]
L. Prussic acid
M. Caustic potash in cachet
N. Stabbed through eye with hatpin
O. Witness in murder case—quite unimportant—offered post abroad
P. Third Floor Flat idea
Q. Figurehead of ship idea
R. Prussic acid—‘Cry’ in bath
S. Diabetic idea—insulin (substitute something else) [
T. Body in the Library—Miss Marple [
U. Stored blood idea, wrong blood
A few pages later, the germ of the plot emerges although, as can be seen from the question marks, the idea was hazy. As we saw in Chapter 3, Christie considered a multitude of possibilities in working out its plot. But apart from a name change this short musing is the basis of the novel:
Dead woman supposed to be actress? Rose Lane—(really is Rose Lane) but body shown to be someone else—
Why?
Why???
Why?????
From the (admittedly unscientific) evidence that the word ‘dentist’ occurs 65 times in the Notebooks against a mere 13 appearances for the word ‘buckle’, it would seem that the background came before the all-important clue, or, even the nursery rhyme. But this combination of dentist—his family, patients, surgery and, vitally, files— together with the rhyme and its accompanying main clue, gave Christie the ideal situation for creating confusion about the identification of an unrecognisable body. She could now get down to serious plot development:
Dentist Murder
H.P. in dentist’s chair—latter talking while drilling Points:
(1) Never forget a face—patient—can’t remember where I saw him before—it will come back to me
(2) Other angles—a daughter—engaged to a rip of a young man—father disapproves
(3) Professional character—his partner
Much hinges on evidence of teeth (death of dentist)
Dentist murdered—H.P. in waiting room at time—patients charts removed or substituted
Dentist—HP in waiting room—sent away
Rings Japp—or latter rings him
Do you remember who was in waiting room?
She begins to develop the novel’s characters, sketching in tentative notes about names and backgrounds, in a well-ordered list of the scenes that would introduce them:
Latest dentist ideas
Little silhouettes of the people going to Mr Claymore that day
1 Mr Claymore himself at breakfast
2 Miss D—mentions a day off or just gets telephone call
3 Miss Cobb or Miss Slob at breakfast—Miss C saying much better—not aching
4 Mr Amberiotis—talk of his landlady—about his tooth—careful English
5 Caroline—(young swindler?) or Mr Bell (dentist’s daughter lover—American? Trying to see father)
6 Dentist’s partner—rings—can he come up to see him—a service lift—unprofessional conduct?
7 Mr. Marron Levy—a board meeting—a little snappy—admits at end—toothache—gets into Daimler—29 Harley St.
8 H.P. His tooth—his conversation with dentist—meets on the stairs—woman with very white teeth?
Later Japp—suspicious foreigner
Not all of the characters that she sketched made it into the novel and those that did appeared under different names. The dentist victim became Morley instead of Claymore, Miss D became Gladys Neville, and Marron Levy became Alistair Blunt. Mr Bell possibly became Frank Carter, the boyfriend of Gladys, and Miss Cobb’s conviction that her toothache is improving is similar to our eventual introduction to Miss Sainsbury Seale. Miss Slob and Caroline were abandoned after this listing. Oddly, the shoe buckle is not mentioned at all here and the white- toothed woman mentioned in item 8 has replaced or, more likely, foreshadowed, Miss Sainsbury Seale.
Throughout the notes Christie continued trying to fit her ingenious plot into the plan of the nursery rhyme:
1—2
Miss S going to dentist
Mr Mauro
Miss Nesbit
Mr Milton
H.P. in waiting room—shoe buckle—loose—annoys him
3—4
Japp comes—P. goes with him—interview partner’s wife?—secretary etc.
5—6
The body—evidence of identity destroyed—but identified from clothes. Mrs Chapman’s flat—the shoes— either a buckle missing or one found there
9—10
Julia Olivera—married not in love—Aunty Julia—‘the daughter is attractive’
11—12
Men Must Delve—dentist’s secretary had been crying because young man has lost his job. In garden next morning—the gardener—P goes round a bush—Frank Carter—digging
13—14
Mrs Adams—that conversation—then—in park Jane and Howard
